


Falling

by BattleMaiden13



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - SlaveTale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Collars, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Monsters are slaves, Papyrus is not happy, Reader is really sick, Reader is sick, Swearing, Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale), a lot more angst, happy ending not guaranteed, he has no chill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2020-04-19 17:51:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19137682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BattleMaiden13/pseuds/BattleMaiden13
Summary: In a world were monsters are forced into slavery and are controlled by collars around their neck, you never thought you'd be a part of the twisted reality. Your sick and owning a monster was the only way to keep you alive just that little bit longer. You hate the idea, Your Dad hates the idea, but it is the reality you know have to live with. It does help a bit to know that the monster your stuck with hates the human race and has no qualms about you dying. You do wish he'd stop spoiling your TV shows but it's not like your going to order him not to.





	1. You are Dying

You are dying. no big deal, everyone is dying. You just have the unfortunate luck of doing it at a faster rate compared to everyone else. Apparently that’s what happens when you get sick. The doctors and your father were trying their best to keep you alive but they didn’t think you had more than a year left unless you started to improve. You could hear your Dad and the doctor talking about it as the large bunny monster, fluffed your pillow and took your pulse. The large mechanical silver collar around their neck had a green light indicating that they were following the order given to them by their owner. You didn’t understand why they wouldn’t let you out of the hospital yet, you were fine. There was only the smallest amount of blood that you coughed up and you didn’t even pass out for that long. You hated hospitals and you hated it when they left monsters to attend to you. They were living, breathing, intelligent beings being forced to do things because of the collar around their necks threaten to turn them into dust if they went against an order from their owner. The bunny monster began to start activating their green magic and brought their hands close to your chest but you stopped them.

“Uh you really don’t have to do that.” you told them, not making eye contact. They seemed to think it over before lowering the hands, the healing magic disappearing into the air. You hated monsters being slaves but you hated them being forced to use their magic more. It exhausted them, to the point were some became temporarily paralysed due to the amount they were forced to use others would faint, and the rare case would turn to dust, leaving nothing but the man made collar behind. 

Your Dad came back into your room, smiling over at you sitting up in bed. Before slowly coming over to you, the monster giving you a small smiling before leaving to follow after the doctor. 

“You ready to go shortie?” you father asked

“Yes, I don’t even know why I’m here” you told him rolling your eyes

“Hmm I’m pretty sure it has something to do with you collapsing in your house.” You’re dad began to help you into your wheelchair. You didn’t need it all the time, your legs where fine, but you had your bad days. Days where you were so tired you couldn’t stand or get your legs to work, where you didn’t eat because you’d throw it up again, days where you were so disorientated, phasing in and out of sleep, that you weren’t sure where you were only to wake up three days later starving. “You’re lucky that the mailman is so diligent on checking in on you.”

“Only because you keep insisting he does” You lived alone. You know it probably wasn’t the smartest idea because of your condition but you didn’t want to live with anyone. You didn’t want to be an inconvenience for anyone, if you had a roommate they’d just end up looking after you and that wouldn’t be fair on them. So you lived alone, of course this meant that your Dad was worried sick about you. He couldn’t live with you himself because he’s job happened on the other side of the city and the commute was too long and stubborn you refused to leave your own house. So your Dad had asked the mailman and Grocery delivery person to just double check on you whenever they come around, and your next door neighbor was on a schedule to check in twice a week. You think he was overreacting but the amount of times you blacked out only to wake up safe in a hospital was too many to count at this point. 

“Luckily for you” He replied. Pushing you down the hallway towards the service elevator. 

“Yeah, luckiest girl in the world” you replied laughing but the smile faded from you face as your dad turned your chair around so you could watch the hospital hall you just came down. An old man was standing down the hall a few feet away. You watched as he raised his cane and brought it down hard on a cat monster that was kneeling in front of him. The cat wasn’t in any hospital uniform so you had to assume it was a personal slave. What a revolting old man. You tried to stand, so you could go over there and tell the man what you thought but a gentle hand on your shoulder forced you to sit back down.

“It’s none of our business” you heard your Dad say as his eyes stayed focused in front of himself.

“But, we can’t just do nothing” you said looking back with pleading eyes, he sighed. 

“If we interject it could end up being worse for that monster”

“But it could also be better” you defended

“As a lawyer specialising in monster cases that’s highly unlikely sweetie. I’m sorry, it’s better to just leave it. I know it’s unfair, but we really can’t interject” You felt sick to your stomach as you watched the man yell something at the cat, his collar turned green and they both walked off as the elevator door slowly shuts in front of you. 

Your Dad led you out of the hospital and helped you into his car before, folding up you chair and putting in the boot. You sat in silence as you began the drive home. Have because you were both upset about what you just saw and the other half was you were beginning to feel tired. You’d need a nap when you got home, only one problem. You were well versed with how to get home from the hospital by now, but you Dad wasn’t going the right way. 

“You know that the house is that way right?” you said pointing behind yourself.

“We have something we need to do first”    
“What?” your father hadn’t told you about any errands you had to run

“You can’t keep living alone Y/n. You’re getting worse. You’ve blacked out three times in the last two weeks. Someone needs to be with you”

“I’m not getting a roommate” you told him glaring as he continued to look at the road ahead of him.

“I was thinking someone who will actually look after you”

“I don’t need a nurse” you complained

“I wasn’t talking about a nurse” your Dad said swallowing loudly as the car slowed before coming to a stop in front of a place you never wanted to take a step into. Monster registration. It was an animal pound for monsters! After they got their collars on they came here for the public to buy, it was revolting. If you weren’t feeling dizzy you’d get out of the car and walk away, you didn’t want to be apart of this culture, you refused to be apart of it. It was slavery! 

“No absolutely not!”

“We just need to go pick one out” You Dad sighed, holding up a doctors note indicating the need for ‘in house care’, he sounded so tired but you didn’t care. 

“They aren’t pets Dad! You shouldn’t be able to just go ‘pick one out’! They are living creatures with high intelligence and we shouldn’t be allowed to force them to do what we want all because a few humans were scared of what they COULD have done to us! They never did anything, all they wanted was their freedom and we just took more of it away fro-” you dissolve into a coughing fit bending over in the seat as you covered your mouth with the bandanna you always kept on you nowadays. Your lungs were both trying to take in oxygen and expel whatever had irritated your lungs, resulting in your gag reflex deciding that you were trying to throw up. Of course having spent the morning in hospital on IV fluid you just ended up dry heaving for a few minutes before managing to calm down. Luckily no blood was left in the bandanna this time. You tied it back around your neck for safe keeping. 

“I hate this as much as you do. You know that, I’ve been trying for so hard for so long to get those collars off, but you need help Y/n and this is the only option we have. We wouldn’t be able to afford 24 hour nurse, I'm not exactly a popular choice of lawyer with my ‘radical’ views and a roommate won’t be able to help as much as someone with magic. Plus there’s no guarantee a roommate would even be home if you collapse again. Me and the Doctors have been talking about it for a few months. I’ve tried everything else shortie I have, this is the only option. I don’t-” He cut himself off before turning to you, his eyes were filled with fear and sorrow “I don’t want to watch my daughter die alone in that apartment just because no one was there when you needed them. This is the best option.” He told you, sounding like he was trying to convince himself just as much as you. 

“For who?” you spat, he was obviously hurting, but the idea of owning a monster made you want to just gouge your own eyes out with a rusty spoon. 

“Well it isn’t for me, if the office hears about it I bet it will be in every case from here on out. What a hypocrite I’ll be saying monsters should be free and yet having one looking after my daughter.” He looked at you with sad eyes and you realized, really for the first time, that this was a career ending move for him. He was right, how was he going to look talking out against slavery and yet having a monster take care of his daughter? This was hurting him just as much as it hurt you. “It will be worth it because you will be safer.” 

“That’s not... “ You sighed “if we have to do it it’s mine, i’m register it, I” you shuddered before going on “own it. If you did the monsters you are trying to help could get hurt so I’ll take this. But when i die-”

“If you die” you rolled your eyes at the correction   
“Alright IF I die, you make sure that this monster isn’t sent back here and you make sure they are one of the first to get their collar off when they can. You got that!” you dad was struggling, had been since the collars came out, to get them to be discontinued. It wasn’t exactly a popular stance, people liked having slaves. 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Do you want your chair?” 

“I can walk!” you declared getting out of the car and slamming the door still not liking this new outcome, before waiting for your dad. You weren’t going in that building by yourself. You didn’t want to go in there at all but you didn’t really have a choice in this situation. You were going to die and your dad was right, if you wanted any chance of living, even a day more then you were given, you needed someone to look after you. You headed in and immediately wanted to run. An overly cheery human women greeted you with a loud “hello, how can I help you?” and you found yourself glaring and hiding behind your father as he approached and began talking to her. They talked for a while about why you were there.

“Oh easy done” the women said coming out from behind the desk “If you come this way I can show you all the monsters we have on offer” she said gesturing to a pair of swinging doors off to the left. You reluctantly began to follow her when a loud thud resonated around the room. 

A skull had been slammed into the glass wall behind the help desk. Like a literal skull from a Skeleton monster. You had never seen a skeleton monster. He was tall and thin with his arms twisted uncomfortable behind his back and held there by a thug of a human, his clothes were tattered and he looked like he hadn’t had a shower in months. He was breathing heavily as he glared at you through the glass, you watched his shoulders rise and fall. There were thick orange lines under his sockets making him look ill or tired and even for a skeleton he looked thin. The monster was a wreck.    
“Oh sorry about that. He’s going to the reprogram station. Apparently he’s been a real problem to all his owners” You watched your Dad tense at ‘reprogram station’.

“What happens at the station?” you asked

“Don’t worry about it darling, he’ll be taken care of” you did not enjoy those sinister undertones, nor the cheerful nature that she delivered it with. 

“Bring us his file” you demanded 

“Shortie-” Your dad began, still sounding so tired. You wouldn’t let him try to fight you on this one though

“If you’re going to force me to have a slave, than at least let me help someone out of an awful situation” You told him glaring. He sighed before turning to the lady who was ‘helping’ you.

“Can you please bring that Skeleton monster out here and show us his file”

“I’m sure he’s not what you are looking for, there are far better-” Your Dad held up his hand to silence her

“Just humor us. Please?” She seemed to shrug before leading you in the opposite direction to a back room, that looked like an interrogation room, complete with metal table and chairs and no windows. You hated this place. A moment later the lady returned followed by the thug of a human who threw the skeleton in the metal chair opposite you and ordered them to stay in that spot. The monsters socket twitched at the wording. You shuddered at the impact of the monster hitting the chair. You wanted to ask if he was ok but as he turned his glare to you, you lost the nerve and instead turned your attention to the file in your father's hand that he was skimming over.  Something about that glare told you that the skeleton did not want to talk to you. He’s file was pretty full from the looks of it. You learnt his name was Papyrus, he had a brother who was owned by a private party, meaning someone whose rich wanted to keep the ownership private, Papyrus knew basic green magic and had had 16 previous owners. That was insane. Monsters usually only had 2 or 3 previous owners at the most, this one must have done something to piss a lot of people off to jump around that much. Most of the returns say the same thing too “Inability to follow orders”. You glanced back at the skeleton he hadn’t moved yet, even continuing to glare at you, so he couldn’t of been that bad at following orders. Not that it mattered, you weren’t planning on ordering him to do anything. 

“As I mentioned before I don’t think this monster is what you’re looking fo-” The lady began shaking her head in mock sadness before beginning to gesture to the guard to get the monster but you interrupted   
“But it says here he knows green magic” you pointed out

“Well yes but-”   
“That is literally the only requirement we need right?” it wasn’t really a question but you looked over at your dad anyway who was nodding.

“Technically” He replied not fully wanting to agree with you. It was clear he didn’t like the idea of this particular monster but he also didn’t want the monster to go to the reprograming station. Whatever the hell that was. 

“Great! Question” you said leaning forward.    
“Yes?” the lady said sounding nervous, she obviously thought that taking this monster was also a huge mistake.

“Not for you” you deadpanned before turning to Papyrus “This has to be your choice ok. Did you want to come with us?” He seemed taken aback that you had even thought to ask him but the skeptical look didn’t leave as he glanced over at the thug then back to you and slowly nodded. Even though you had given him a choice he probably didn’t feel like he had much of one.  After a bit more of the lady trying to talk you out of this and your dad knowing that you had made your choice and arguing back for you, you were brought some papers to sign and an app for ‘monster control’ was downloaded onto your phone and Papyrus’ collar registered to it. You could input demands from there if you were too far away or if there were set things a monster had to do each day, like a certain chore or a curfew. Your dad instantly imputed a few things, like what he had to do if you collapsed, what time to give you your medication and so forth. Monsters also had three set rules that each and everyone had to obey:

  1. They can’t hurt humans
  2. They have to obey any orders given to them unless it would cause harm to a human
  3. They have to protect their own existence as long as it doesn’t contradict either of the first to rules. 



After all, Monsters were expensive but their lives aren’t worth that of a human. The only reason you could afford a monster over a maid was the fact they were ‘prescribed’. After signing a few more papers and such you were finally on the way home. Which was good because you needed a nap, it was getting exceedingly hard to focus and you just felt tired. Being sick sucked.

 

As your dad drove you turned around to talk to Papyrus in the back seat. He was sitting hunched over and was looking at you with disdain. Fair enough, you probably would be pretty upset with the situation if the roles were reversed, you already were upset with the situation and you were technically in charge.  

“I’m Y/n by the way. What’s your name?” His sockets narrowed at your question

“you know my name” it was the first time you had heard his voice. It was deeper than you were expecting and harsh. It sounded like something was scratching at his throat and you weren’t sure if it naturally sounded like that or if it was because of his current state. 

“I’m not going to call you something you don’t want me to” Papyrus didn’t say anything, you saw your dad glance at you from the corner of his eyes. Both of you knew that some monsters hated that humans knew their name. Using it to bark orders and degrade them, it gave the humans more power, so you wouldn’t call him Papyrus until, if ever, he said that you could. 

“If you don’t want to give us your real name we could give you a nickname?” Papyrus didn’t respond to the suggestion.

“What about Skeletor?” You dad said making you scrunch up your face in revolt and turn to him

“If we give him a nickname after a skeleton it will be Skulduggery Pleasant” You turned back to Papyrus “He’s a detective” you clarified. Monsters weren’t really caught up with most pop culture. Other humans liked to keep them in the dark about most things. Again a power trip, humans could really be the worst. 

“Not Jack?” Your dad asked, a teasing tone laced in his voice.

“Awe man I love Jack Skellinton! King of Halloween” you clarified for Papyrus again, who really didn’t seem to care. “Eh, why don’t we move away from the whole skeleton thing entirely” You said turning back to sit properly in your seat. You tried to honestly think of a name but you were finding it harder and harder to concentrate. “Is there anything you want us to call you?” the fatigue was creeping into your voice, you could hear it. Papyrus didn’t answer, instead rubbing his eye socket slowly before leaning against the door and looking out the window. The action brought your attention back to under his eye and the orange lines there. You suppose that was his main magic type, orange, you didn’t really pay much attention to his file to accurately say if that was true or not but you supposed you didn’t have anything else to go on.

“We can just call you Orange until you give us a name ok?” you got no answer

 

You made it to the run down apartments called home and slowly got out of the car. Your dad had parked right out the front of the building to make it easier for you. He could tell you were getting tired. He got your wheelchair out of the boot and handed it to Papyrus, Orange, and asked him to carry it up the stairs as he would be helping you. Slowly making it through the forya and towards the stairs you and your dad went first, him holding your arm so you don’t fall as you began to climb. The elevator in the complex had been busted for a while now and no one seemed to know when it was getting fixed. It was ok though, you only had to go up three flight, it just got difficult when you were tired. You had barely made up the first flight when a loud bang followed by several crashes came from behind you. You and your dad turned around to see Orange standing there with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his teeth that didn’t quite meet his sockets, the wheelchair was at the bottom of the stairs. You could just sense your dads irritation but you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well you didn’t tell him how many stairs he had to carry it up” You defended for Orange. Your dad made you sit down as your giggling died as he went to grab the chair. Checking it over apparently he decided to carry it himself this time. 

“Orange could you hel-” You sprung to you feet

“Don’t need help, I am A OK!” You didn’t want Orange to have to help you on his first day here. You didn’t want him to help you at all if you could help it. “Race you” you turned and began taking two steps at a time as you heard your dad yell after you. You ignored him. Not slowing down till you made it to your front door. You took a second to catch your breath and glared at your hand as it shook. You really needed a nap. You opened the door and went straight for your rundown couch. The apartment was small with the front door opening up to the small living, dining and kitchen area. On the back wall was a small corridor that lead to the two bedroom, one was yours and the other was for storage, and the bathroom. The place, much like a lot of the things in it, were falling apart, second hand and old. But it was a roof over your head and it was yours, what more could you want. A few moments later your dad and Orange came in and you quickly sat up in a bad attempt to hide the fatigue you were feeling. Your dad put your chair away and Orange scanned the apartment. 

“What do you think Orange?” you asked, he glanced at you but otherwise didn’t reply

“Damn it” You turned to your dad who was glancing down at his phone “Sorry shortie, I have to get to the office. Somethings just came up. Are you going to be ok?” 

“I’ll be fine Dad, I’m just gonna take a nap” you told him rolling your eyes

“Alright, call if anything happens” He says to you then turns to Orange “Same to you, numbers on the fridge” 

“Stop pressuring him Dad, he just got here, give him some time to settle in” 

“Right. I’ll be back tomorrow”

“Can’t wait”  There was a pause as your dad gave you the ‘don’t make dumb choices’ look before leaving. That just left you and Orange alone in the apartment. Guess you wouldn’t really be alone anymore. You took a breath before forcing yourself to stand up and took a few steps towards Orange, plastering on your friendliest smile. 

“Would you like me to show you around? The place isn’t that big but you can have your own room. There's a few boxes in there at the moment but if we just move them out there should be mo-” You cut yourself off as you were slammed against the wall. Orange didn’t touch you, but the sharp way he turned around and banging his palm next to your head, startled you to step back only to be met with the wall. Orange effectively blocking you in with his arm. 

“you really think i’m that stupid. drop the nice act human, you aren’t fooling anyone.”

“I’m not…” your voice died in your throat, the monster skull was so close to you and the look he was giving you told you that he could easily snap your neck if it wasn’t for the collar. 

“quite lying. all humans start the same, acting nice to the monster and then they remember that they’re in charge, that they can boss us around, make us do whatever the want, even use as a punching bag. no sign of being nice then and you’ll end up just the same. a nice human, nya ha, what a joke” Orange stepped away from you and you fell to the ground in a coughing fit, ripping the bandanna off your neck and coughing heavily into it. 

“all you humans should just die” he said glaring down at you. The way he said the word ‘human’ was filled with distaste and a deep hatred. The way he said it made a cold shiver run up your spin. Your coughing fit slowly died down and was replaced with laughter

“Well you won’t have to wait long for this one to” You said slowly standing

“what?”  he asked coldly, not yet catching on to why he was actually here. You showed him the bandanna now splattered with fresh blood coughed up from your lungs. 

“I’m dying Orange, doctors say I probably won’t last another year. I bet that’s going to be great for you, watching a human die with no way to stop it and it doesn’t go against any of your rules so you can just sit back and watch the show.” 


	2. The Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You make a deal with Orange about the process of giving him orders.

**Papyrus POV**

after the human’s little speech about how she was dying she seemed to snap out of whatever had gotten into her. she stood straight and smiled brightly at me, as if she wasn’t clutching a bloodied bandanna in her fist. the human pointed out the rooms of the decrepit department, living, kitchen and dining, her bedroom, what was going to be my bedroom apparently, bathroom and a small closet. then she excused herself, apologizing before saying she was going to go take a nap, saying that i could help myself to anything in the kitchen, or watch tv or whatever i wanted, before retreated to her room. it had to be some kind of trick. she was just biding her time, hoping that i’d eat the one thing in the fridge i wasn’t suppose to, or have the tv up to loud so she could punish me for fucking up some how. like i was just suppose to know what was ok and not. wouldn’t be the first time things like this happened and this human was not going to be any different. i sat on the couch trying to crack the joints in my wrist to no avail. It had been stiff for a few days now, ever since my last ‘owner’ popped it out of its socket because i ‘didn’t’ follow his orders. i followed his orders, the floor was mopped, he didn’t tell me i had to use water. i bet this new human wasn’t even dying, it would be great if they were, one less human around was always a good thing. the way they cheerily talked in the car ride over here and that smile and bright composer just made it seem like she was milking her sickness to get sympathy. such a human thing to do.

speaking of, what was this human’s name again? eh, who cares, i’ll probably be back at the monster registration within the week. this human will be just like all the others, malicious, cruel and power crazed. she said she was going to take a nap so who knows how long she was going to be and she mentioned the tv and food, both obvious traps. if i touched either the kitchen or entertainment device i’m sure i’d get a glimpse at the humans real personality which wouldn’t be so bad but i’d like at least one night sleep before being sent back. no matter how hungry i was it just wasn’t worth it and even if they had anything worth eating i probably wouldn’t be able to eat it anyway. i could feel my magic reserve getting dangerously low. maybe i should mention to them that i need magic. she’d probably enjoy trying it, what we monsters needed to survive humans saw as a gimmick. the human didn’t say anything about the bookshelf. it was a tall wooden bookshelf, pushed back against the same wall as the front door, it was almost tall enough to touch the ceiling and overflowing with books and loose papers. the books themselves varied from hand written journals to novels of different genres to what looked like some photo albums. i ignored the photo albums and most of the journals looked like they were written in shorthand code and i was to tired to decode it now so most of them ended up on the floor as did most of the novels. there seemed to be a few romances, a couple of adventure and even a few fairytales but a majority of the books were detective novels. i started taking books off the shelf and throwing them on the ground if i had read them or if they just weren’t interesting, i wasn’t told to keep the house clean. there wasn’t really any that caught my immediate attention but i found one that could keep me entertained until the human finally woke up.  taking a seat on the couch i began to flip through the book. 

 

**Your POV**

You woke up from your nap a few hours after laying down feeling much better. The nausea that had plagued you since you left the hospital had disappeared and was now replaced with a hunger for some solid food. You swung your legs over the side of your bed and stretched out your back before exciting your room. Orange seemed to be taking a nap of his own on the couch, you considered letting him sleep but glancing around it didn’t look like he took your offer to eat something so he probably needed food just as much as you did. You marched over to the base of the couch.

“Orange it’s time to wake up!” you semi yelled, trying to be loud enough to wake him without actually ordering him awake. If it did sound like an order the collar would just send out a small electric shock to wake him up and that  didn’t sound comfortable at all.

“Come on you lazy bones! We gotta get some food before we both waste away” you yelled lounder, stomping your foot for emphasis. The skeleton groaned before turning over in his sleep. 

“Alright last chance~ if you don’t wake up then you don’t get a say in what we’re having for dinner” He didn’t respond. Awe well, guess you get to pick what your going to have for dinner. You went over to the small kitchen and started raiding the pantry. You didn’t have much in the way of food and besides that you also didn’t have anything magic infused. Monsters could eat normal food on occasion but they needed to eat magic in order to replenish their own supply and keep them alive. That was probably why he didn’t end up eating anything, man you felt so stupid! How did you not think of getting some monster food for Orange. He already didn’t look the best and he probably thought you were playing some cruel joke on him now. That’s just great, what a perfect start to this relationship built on the dust of monsters. You had to do a better job at not treating him like a slave. This one mistake was going to be it. You’d probably have to go shopping to get some magic food for him but it was pretty late and the shops would be closed before you made it down there tonight so that would have to wait for tomorrow. On to option number two: takeout. 

You opened one of the draws and began pulling out the menus you kept in there. Being sick you acquired quite the collection as most nights it became easier to order in then try and cook in your weakened state. You briefly wondered if Orange could cook but shook the thought aware already resolved that you wouldn’t treat him like a slave which means you wouldn’t get him to cook if he didn’t want to. You quickly sorted through the many menus in front of you sorting them into ones that served magic infused food and ones that don’t. You had a few options at the end of it and quickly made a choice walking over to the landline that was attached to the wall. 

“Last chance Orange! Otherwise you’ll just have to eat what I get you tonight. Well i mean you don’t have to but there will be little options until tomorrow” there was still no answer. Somehow you didn’t think the monster was actually asleep but you could understand why he didn’t want to talk to you so he could pretend to be asleep for as long as he wanted. You called in the order making sure to include the monster food and gave them the address. It would be about twenty minutes before the food got here which meant you needed to find something to do, not that you needed to look far as you noticed your bookshelf in disarray, with half your books scattered on the ground and some halfway across the room. You began to pick them up.

“You know you could of just taken a book out and put it back, you didn’t need to show your distaste for my literature choices by littering them on the floor.” You stated as you began to place them back on the shelves   
“Although honestly I can’t blame you for disliking half of these. I have no idea why I own them” you continued. You figured by now he wouldn’t reply to your rambling but you also couldn’t stand the silence that would fall between the two of you if you stopped talking.

“I should probably go clean out your room” you told the room as you finished putting the books on the shelf. “There’s an old mattress in there that you can use but we don’t have a bedframe for it” you pulled out your phone and opened your bank account as you walked. “Looks like I got payed recently” the government gave you money due to your inability to work, it wasn’t a whole lot but you got by comfortable on it, you’d probably have to update your papers to say that there was now a monster living with you. Although whether that hurt your pay or helped it you weren’t entirely sure.  “I could pick you up a bed frame tomorrow when I go to get the groceries but you probably need some more clothes to” you glance over at the skeleton as you say this. His back is to you and through the tattered shirt you can see his spin, uncomfortably bent forward. His clothes looked almost as bad as the monster did himself. “You should come, that way you can pick out whatever you like. You’re bound to be more comfortable wearing new clothes if you pick them out yourself.” no answer “Well at least think about it, you can tell me if you’d like to come tomorrow, right now what’s important is cleaning out this room and eating dinner!” you cheered to yourself. There was still no reply. You entered the spare room and flicked on the light. 

There where a few boxes pushed against the wall, some filled with clothing, some with old cooking utensils and some with some old books. They were things you didn’t think you needed at the time, or that you didn’t have room for but still wanted to keep. A mattress was also pushed up against the wall and you knew that there was some pillows and a duvet somewhere in one of these boxes. You made quick work of what was in the room. The boxes of books went out next to your bookshelf, maybe Orange would find something interesting to read in them. The clothes went in a corner of your own room and the kitchen supplies would have to live at the bottom of your pantry until you found a better place for them. You put the mattress on the ground and spent some time rummaging through the closet in the living room trying to find a fitted sheet the right size as well as some pillow covers and such. As soon as you managed to find everything there was a knock on the door. You chucked the sheets into Orange’s room and ran to answer the door, greeting the food delivery guy and grabbing some money out of the drawer next to the door. You kept the old bedside table there for a few reasons, you didn’t have anywhere else to put it, it was convenient and you liked how it added to the cluttered worn feeling of your apartment. You kept cash in the draw for when you get food delivered. Accepting the food you made your way over to the small circular table and began to set it out. 

“Orange foods here” there was no reply

“It’ll get cold if you don’t come eat” Orange shuffled slightly on the couch but didn’t make any moves to actually get up.

“Come on lazy bones! I got you tacos! Everyone likes taco- ah!” Orange had shot up from his spot on the couch and turned to glance at the table with a slightly shocked expression that maybe lasted a minute before his glare returned. He slowly made his way over to the table and took a seat. You passed him the magic food before taking the opposite seat and started to eat. Orange didn’t even make a move to start. 

“You know you can eat right?” you said raising an eyebrow at the skeleton. It took him a long time to answer and you could tell that he obviously didn’t want to say anything but eventually he relented an evil looking smirk gracing his skull as he tapped under his eye sockets. 

“bit weak here human, won’t be able to eat unless-”

“Oh it’s magic infused!” you replied cheerily already getting what he was on about. He was weak on magic, he wouldn’t be able to consume normal food, you’d already assumed this otherwise your sure he would of eaten sooner. Your quick response seemed to take Orange off guard as his face went back to glaring at you but this time it seemed like he was actually made at you and not just the fact that you are a human. Although you couldn’t think of why he would be mad at you.  He slowly picked up the food in front of him and began to eat, although he’s movements started slow, after he had the first bite he practically inhaled the rest of the food. Satisfied that the monster was finally eating something you went back to your own meal. Surprisingly it was Orange who broke the silence.

“so have experience with monsters then?” you thought about this for a moment not really sure what he was trying to imply. 

“I guess” you said shrugging “my dad works with them a lot and I’ve had a few personal experiences. Why do you ask?” 

“not many humans realize we need magic food.” he stated simply

“What?!” You asked standing up as you did and slamming your hands onto the table, half in anger, half suprise. Orange didn’t react “That’s so rude and just bad for your health. If humans insist on having monster they should at least be aware of how to properly care for them!” You basically yelled, mad enough to just speak your mind. A bad habit of yours. 

“how many have you owned?” Orange’s voice was cold

“What?” you asked turning to look down at Orange who was still sitting. He didn’t answer instead choosing to slowly turn his glare up to meet your eyes. “None!” you seethed. Orange leaned forward to rest the side of his skull on the back of his hand as he prompt up his arm on the table.  His empty sockets seemed to scan you, searching for any sign that you might be lying. 

“I have never owned, nor will I ever own a monster” you practically spat, feeling your chest tighten

“you own me” he said simply, his hollow voice empty of any signs of emotions. 

“Your different! I didn’t get a choice” you could feel the tears beginning to fill your eyes but refused to let them fall, not over this. You didn’t want a monster but here he was and he was here to keep you alive, for your dad, he wanted this. 

“you’re human, you always get a choice. that’s the difference between you and me, remember” Orange tapped the metal collar around his neck for emphasis and you knew that you couldn’t argue with him on this. Ultimately he was right. You could have argued against your dad, you could have chosen to keep living alone, you had the choice to die alone but being too afraid of what might happen to  you, you chose to cave into your dads whims and own a monster. A living thing with a conscious and emotions and you had full control over them. A dog had more rights because at least they weren’t forced to obey your every command. 

“I’ll always give you a choice” you could hear your voice getting small and Orange scoffed at the weak declaration obviously not buying it. 

“you’ll give me an order sooner or later. even if you don’t mean to the collar will register you simply asking me to pass you a pencil as an order and i’ll be forced to do it. your dad already got me to carry that chair up the stairs” 

“Before you pointedly dropped it” you said sighing before realizing something “because you knew the collar wouldn’t punish you for it since you technically followed the order! Wow that's really smart” you said seriously impressed that the monster thought of the loop hole. You briefly wondered if that’s why he kept getting sent back to registration but pushed that thought aside for now as another thought crossed your mind. 

“I know how I can never give you an order for as long as I’m here” you said suddenly smiling once more as you pulled out your phone and opened the monster owner app. It was a simple set up, barley took a moment. The collars light flashed a blue and you said clearly and calmly,

“Orange, this is an order” before falling silent. The collar hesitated a second before turning green. Orange didn’t take his eyes off you as you turn your phone to face him. 

“See, now I either input a command directly into my phone, or start an order with the phrase otherwise it won’t work. Example, pass me that note book” you said pointing over Oranges shoulder, he turned to glance at it but made no move to actually go for it and the collar around his neck remained blank. 

“Give me a high five” You held your hand up and again Orange made no move to complete the request. “Tell me your name” still nothing “See you won’t be forced to do anything unless I make a conscious decision in ordering you to do and that isn’t going to happen.” You stated proudly crossing your arms and grinning. Orange’s sockets trailed over you before he finally spoke up

“and how long do you think that will last?”

“Until I die!” you said, probably a bit too loudly. 

“and what happens when you don’t last that long?” Wow he really didn’t believe you at all. He had some serious trust issues but you suppose that’s what happened when your species were enslaved. 

“Then how about a quid pro quo. If I give you an order that isn’t already set, you know giving me medication and healing when needed, then I'll do something for you. Anything you want. No arguments, no fighting back. It’ll be like I had a collar of my own”

“anything?” He questioned

“Anything” you declared leaning forward. There was no way you were backing down from this   
“fine, it’s a deal or whatever” Orange said. You get the feeling he still didn’t believe anything you were telling him but that was fine because you knew that this was the truth and besides, he’d never have to get you to do anything because you were never going to give him an order!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! if you don't know me maybe try checking out my tumblr?   
> [Check it out here!!](https://battlemaiden13.tumblr.com/)  
> I answer a lot of Imagine Asks about different things (mainly skeletons) Post/Reblog fan art people have kindly made me and just chill. 
> 
> If you are interested I am also going to try and update this fic every second friday (Already a day late WOOO, the sign of a true author) um, yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	3. The Shopping Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to go shopping for a few monster essentials. If only you didn't feel like crap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know, something about this chapter really annoys me but I can only get better right?

You woke up the next day feeling like someone had punched you hard in the gut. Turning in your bed you realised that not only were you feeling extremely nauseous but had a splitting headache that made everything seem to spin. It was going to be a terrible day for you, that was obvious from the everything about this wake up. You just wanted to get back to sleep and wait until you woke up again. Which would of been the perfect plan, until you remembered what had happened yesterday. Sitting up a bit too quickly in bed, causing your stomach to churn. You had a monster, he’s name was Orange and you needed to get up today to get him clothes and food and a bedframe. You took a second, just sitting in bed clutching your head and waited a few minutes for the pain to subside before getting up and chucking on some comfortable clothes. Heading straight to the bathroom after to use the facilities and wash your face. Grabbing a hand full of varias pills you knew you didn’t want to take but forced them down your throat anyway. You knew they would help with the headache after a while but probably couldn’t do much about the nausea. An hour and a half later you figured all the drugs had kicked in and you weren’t going to start feeling any better. You took a deep breath before heading to the kitchen and rummaging around for something you were sure you could keep down but every food item you came across just made your stomach turn. You were leaning against the counter trying to think of something you could eat when the sound of Orange’s voice took you by surprise.

“where’s your medication?” his voice still sounded tired and like he was already over this bullshit even though it was still fairly early in the morning

“Ahh!” you had jumped back when he spoke, obviously forgetting that he lived here now somewhere in your morning routine. “What?”

“medication” Orange said sounding slightly annoyed as he pointed to the green light from his collar illuminating his bones. 

“Oh right, that was an order from Dad” You muttered to yourself before announcing louder “I’ve had my morning dose so you can calm down.” The collars light faded away “For future reference though it’s all in the bathroom” Orange didn’t respond choosing instead to give you a deadpan look almost like he was waiting for something. He didn’t look much better from what he had yesterday, although you supposed that was to be expected. He’d probably take a few weeks to look like he did before getting that collar on him. “I, uh, only have regular food here” You said gesturing towards the surrounding kitchen “I was gonna go out to grab you some magic food today anyway but I suppose you need breakfast right?” Orange didn’t respond, that didn’t stop you from putting on your friendly face “So why don’t we just go have breakfast together! I know a few great cafes that also do monster food” No response “of course you could also stay here if you want and I can go get it myself, although I was also going to get you new clothes too” you said feeling once again that you were just talking aloud for the sake of filling the silence surrounding the two of you. “It’d probably be easier if you come, that way you can get clothes you like right! Ah of course the decision is up to you I’m not going to force you to come with me if you don’t want to” you could feel yourself moving your arms around awkwardly but weren’t consciously aware of what they were actually doing. Orange sighed, before beginning to talk

“let’s go” You were pretty sure he was trying to talk to you as little as possible, but he did agree to go with you so that was a good start. Probably.    
“Right! Onward!!” you basically yelled, scooting around the kitchen counter and heading towards the door. “I’ll order a cab” You muttered pulling out your phone and begging to put in the necessary info. You weren’t to far out from the city but you couldn’t exactly drive in your condition even on a good day so ordering ride services has become a bit of second nature to you. 

“don’t you need the wheelchair?” Orange asked sounding entirely uninterested in it. You stopped walking and thought about it for a few moments knowing that it’d take a few minutes for your ride to get here. Out of all the days to take it today probably would of been a good choice, you were still pretty nauseous and already knew you’d feel faint by the afternoon but there was no way you were going to. It made you actually feel sick, people looked at you weird and you could tell everyone was being nice to you just because they felt sorry for you.

“No. I’m good today, it can stay here” you declared. Orange scoffed, he could probably tell you felt like shit just from looking at you, but didn’t say anything about bringing it again. The two of you headed towards the door before you realised you were missing something. 

 “OH wait!” You quickly darted back to your room to grab your spare bandanna. You would have worn the same one you had yesterday but it still had dried blood on it. Luckily you had a spare, a bright sky blue one for just such occasions. You quickly tied it around your neck, loosely enough that you could easily pull it off to cough into it if needed and headed back out to the main living area. Upon seeing you Orange face contorted into a mix of emotions that you weren’t entirely sure you could name. Two that stood out were Disgust and Sorrow, they weren’t present on his skull for long though as he returned to that deadpan expression that was becoming he’s normal expression to you. 

“you should wear the other one” Orange said picking up said bandanna from where you left it on the old bedside table next to your door. 

“What? Why?” you asked glancing at the bloodied item

“it’ll bring out the bloodshot in your eyes” He replied quickly a small smirk resting on his teeth. Just like yesterday, though it didn’t quite seem to meet his eye sockets. 

“Orange! Was that a joke?! Are you joking with me??” You asked sounding almost a bit too excited as his expression returned to nothing.

“Oh my god you were! What a fantastic start to this new friendship! We’ve only known each other one day and you're already making jokes at my expense. That’s at least a level three friendship right there!” you declared holding up three fingers where Orange was meant to be standing only to see the door wide open and your other bandanna thrown haphazardly back where it was found “Hey! No far wait for me!” You yelled running out the door, scooping up your bag as you go and making sure to lock it before slowly jogging down the stairs to catch up with Orange. Truth was you knew Orange would probably never see you as a friend. It was obvious he hated humans with such a strong passion and you knew you being nice to him wasn’t going to change that but you figured you’d try to make friends with him. Even if it was just a pretend friendship you made up to help you it was better that awkward silence. You knew that pretending to be friends to try and trick your mind into feeling less guilty about having a monster was selfish and cruel but you needed to do something to stop yourself falling into a depression. You could not deal with that on top of everything else you had messed up with you. 

 

Orange didn’t say anything to you the whole way to the city. He didn’t give any indication as to where he wanted to eat as you rambled about the different options, nor did he say a thing about you only ordering coffee for yourself and no real food when you finally just dragged him someplace ultimately needing to sit down to stop feeling so dizzy. He did talk to the waiter but only single words as he gave them his order, which you had to repeat anyway because they wouldn’t talk to monsters and acted like the skeleton wasn’t even there. You wanted to argue about Orange choosing to start the morning with sugary pastries but decided that he deserved any food he wanted and didn’t need you nagging him about it. Not wanting the whole breakfast to be in complete awkward silence you began to just ramble about the days plans. Decided it was best to start with clothes, then move to food and last the bed frame. Even naming what stores you’d go to and drawing a detailed map on a napkin with a fully detailed itinerary. It wasn’t like you’d normally do this but you had the time to kill and Orange wasn’t stepping in to give any insight of what he wanted to do. On the plus side you now had an excellent plan for how the day was going to go. Starting with clothes. After Orange had finished his breakfast the two of you headed out to a variety of clothes shops in order to pick something out for Orange. You were currently wandering around the third store having not got anything yet and was feeling to crash hot, both physically and mentally. Orange hadn’t said anything about any of the clothes you had eagerly showed him in each store. He hadn’t even tried anything on and seemed completely uninterested. You didn’t want to straight up pick what he was going to wear but you were really running out of options here.  

“Come on Orange, You have to give me something here. A favourite colour, a cut of clothing, a preferred style.” the monster was still quite and wasn’t even looking at you at this point. “Please don’t make me pick out clothes for you” you whined, leaning against a clothes rack. You knew from the glare that he sent your way that you’d have to pick the clothes anyway something you really didn’t want to do. It made it seem like you dressing him made him more of a slave but he couldn’t keep wearing the tattered clothes he was in. 

“Fine, I’ll pick this time you lazy bones but next time it’s on you. What’s your size?” You asked gesturing to all of him. He didn’t respond. Looks like you were going to be guessing. You picked out a few outfits for the monster all of which he had no opinions on. Most of the outfits you picked were meant to be loose fitting and comfortable to lounge in deciding that he’d probably enjoy that more than uncomfortable dress clothes. You did get him a few nice pair of jeans, some new shoes and PJ’s all of which he had no comment on. Grocery shopping went much the same way as you wandered around the specialist store. You ended up just picking out some monster food that sounded interesting to you even though you had no idea what he’d like. 

“Is there anything else you’d like?” you asked after about an hour looking around and chucking different foods into the basket you were carrying. It should of been enough to last him a week and would definitely help him recharge at least some of his magic but Orange hadn’t really had an input on what you grabbed. Not because you didn’t ask, you were pretty sure he just didn’t want to talk to you, or thought you were playing some cruel prank even though you weren’t. He must of had some horrible owners in the past to be so suspicious of you. Orange again didn’t say anything but you noticed the slightest movement of his skull to something just behind you. Turning around it was a wall of sweeteners. Maple syrups and Honey covered most of the shelf but from where he glanced you assumed he wanted some honey. There was a few different brands but one look back at Orange showed he was feigning uninterest in them so you just picked out one at random hoping it’d be ok. 

The last thing you had to do today was to get a bed frame but it had been a few hours since breakfast and you could feel yourself getting fainter. The fact that you hadn’t eaten anything yet wasn’t a good thing and although you still felt nauseous you knew that eating something would be better for you than trying to push on without it. Plus carrying all the shopping bags was making you tired. You weren’t going to get Orange to do it leaving you with multiple in each arm. In the end you don’t even know why Orange agreed to come out with you, you did everything yourself. As the two of you walked towards your last destination you got distracted by a food cart sitting on the other side of the road. It wouldn’t be the best food but it was better than nothing. 

“Orange wait up I need to grab something to eat” You told the skeleton. He did stop and look at you for a few moments before rolling his eyes and following you across to the food stand. You were looking over the menu when it hit you. A dizzy spell, it was bad. You should've eaten earlier but now the nausea hit you full force and you could feel your gag reflex kicking in, your headache had returned and the room was spinning. You were pretty sure you were also coughing and had no idea when you ended up on your knees. You had over exerted yourself, you should have eaten earlier, you should have brought your wheelchair, hell you shouldn't have even come out today feeling the way you did when you woke up. It was getting hard to focus on what was around you but that wasn’t a problem for long as you felt yourself black out.  

 

**Papyrus POV**

this was just perfect. first a stupid order forced me to wake up and who knows what time, then this human proved they use the chair for pity by not accepting to bring it, than the put on that god damn bandana, i just wanted to strangle them with it which only increased when they made a dumb iteniry and map only to follow it to a t! what other humans would do that! there’s only one monster that i’ve seen do that before and i refuse to let this worthless piece of shit remind me of him. and now they’ve gone and collapsed in public and thanks to another set order i’m forced to sit here healing them. i don’t have enough magic for this. i have to keep healing until they’re stable and green magic is not my forte’ so i don’t know how long that is going to be. this bitch had to faint in public, there’s a crowd forming around, they probably weren’t even unconscious just doing this for attention. none of the other humans around were even trying to help, content with just surrounding us to watch, of course. probably waiting for me to dust myself from magic loss, which honestly wouldn’t take long at this rate. i could hear my soul pounding in my ears, barely a minute healing and my magic was already almost depleted. i needed more time, i couldn’t dust here, not without finding sans. my vision got blurry and my hands began to shake. as soon as the human took a deep breath, their eyes fluttering open slightly, i cut my magic off trying to recatch my breath. it was probably only three minutes healing total but in my current stat it felt like an eternity. the human sat up slowly, trying to take in their surroundings and remember where they were. an older women stepped forward from the crowd to address the human. 

“Are you ok dear?” apparently the sound of someone's voice seemed to clue the human into what had happened as the sprung to their feet. 

“Ah I’m fine, A-OK, never better” they even started to laugh like this was all some big mistake. I slowly got to my feet, i knew they were faking it for attention. The crowd slowly disappeared as the human began to pick up the bags that had scattered when they fell to the ground. As the stood up straight their attention turned to me and an emotion close to pity crossed their face as they took in my appearance. i wouldn’t even be looking like this if it wasn’t for them. they shook their head slightly that fake smile that had been plastered on their face all day returning as they rubbed the back of their neck sheepishly. 

“Sorry Orange, I don’t think I’m up for getting you that bedframe today. Would it be ok if we just head home?” I could tell it wasn’t really a question, just like all the other ‘questions’ they had been asking me today so once more i didn’t reply. they ordered another cab home, but unlike the ride into town this one was silent. the human was probably sick of pretending to be happy, no one in here to try and sway with a cheerful disposition. they got all the attention they wanted for the day anyway. parading around with a skeleton monster and fainting in public. was probably real proud of themselves. we got to the rundown apartment building at started up the stairs before the human spoke again. 

“Uh Orange do you think you could…” they trailed off as i turned to them. we were on the first flight of stairs and i was a few ahead of them. they looked so pathetic carrying all those bags and i was waiting for the order that was sure to follow but they shook their head and once again smiled up at me. “You’ll probably get to the door before me, sorry I might take a while” what a fake apology. it was obviously an attempt to make me feel bad and take some of the bags for them but that wasn’t going to happen. i’ll happily wait at the door for them and i did. 20 minutes later they came up the third flight of stairs, smiling at me as they unlocked the door. they’d get annoyed soon enough and then they’d order me around and break that worthless deal they gave me yesterday. the human walked inside but stopped as a worried voice almost began to yell at them.

 “Jesus shortie are you ok? You should of called me if you were going out, I could of helped.” craning over the humans shoulder i saw their dad standing in the middle of the room looking extremely worried. 

“Uh isn’t that why we got him?” they asked, gesturing over their shoulder at me. their dad just gave me a disapproving look but i ignored it. not like i wasn’t use to disapproving looks.  both humans headed towards the kitchen arguing about pointless stuff, i continued to wait near the door and just listen. 

“Did anything happen why you were out?” 

“No” liar.

“You look really bad today, are you ok?”

“I’m fine Dad” knew they were faking

 “Shortie are you sure your ok?”

“Never better Dad, I don’t even feel sick today” i knew they had been lying to get attention. what an attention whore. i know something about that isn’t right. there's a nagging feeling in the back of my skull that i’m missing something but there’s no way this human is as nice as they’re pretending to be. i have to believe their faking being sick. no point getting my hopes up just yet. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say I'd try update every two weeks? I apparently meant two months. My life was a mess there for a while. 
> 
> If you want to see my tumblr:  
> [Check it out here!!](https://battlemaiden13.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	4. The Delivery Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're friend comes over with your weekly delivery, and what's this, is orange having a change of heart? no? awe well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so Long but I hope you enjoy it.

Another day another migraine although today you weren’t getting out of bed. Yesterday had sucked and you honestly need the rest. You knew that it would be better for you to just relax in bed all day but the thought of staying here for that long also made you extremely bored. There was nothing to do but sleep and although sleep would have probably been for the best you just found it to be a gigantic waste of time. There are so many better things you can be doing! Like cleaning the house or avoiding cleaning the house by watching movies. Maybe you could bake something? Although throwing up while cooking wouldn’t be fantastic. Perhaps you should just stay in bed. Dads always on your case about needing more bedrest and you didn’t really have anything else planned today but just the thought of staying in bed all day made you groan. Plus if you slept now there was no way you’d be able to go back to sleep tonight even if you were exhausted.

As you argued with yourself about whether you were going to get up or not, even though you were fairly sure you were going to, the door to your bedroom slowly opened. You sat up slightly in bed only to be hit in the head by something hard. It took you by surprise and caused you to slam your head back into your pillow, rubbing your temple. Yep, you were definitely going to have a headache. You picked up the small container that had ended up hitting you. It was a pill bottle.

“Oh, Thanks Orange!” you said grinning as you sat up in bed, grabbing a water bottle and opening the cap of the pills. Orange had already disappeared when you looked back up, maybe to get some breakfast for himself. You were almost 100% sure that the collar had woken him up again but it was a preset order and your dad would be mad if you changed it. You’d need to go to the bathroom to grab the other medication that you were suppose to take but this was a sign to you that there was no way you were going to spend all day in bed. After taking the rest of your medication and getting dressed you marched into the kitchen to make yourself something to eat. Orange was nowhere to be seen, so maybe he went back to bed? You decided to let him rest, after what he did yesterday, he was exhausted and you’d feel cruel dragging him out of bed just to sit around, even if you already technically woke him up. As you ate you were trying to decide what exactly you were going to do today your eyes wandered over to the calendar you have set up on the wall. 

It was Wednesday! You had forgotten completely about the date due to everything that had been happening but this was fantastic! Wednesday was the day you got your groceries delivered. It was your families idea as they wanted you to go outside as little as possible. In the first few weeks you and the delivery man had become friends so you set up your delivery in a way that allowed him to stay and talk to you for a while. Your dad didn’t really seem to mind as that way you had someone to check on you and you were just happy to have a friend here every once and awhile. 

 

It was mid afternoon by the time Tops arrived at your house with the delivery. You’d spent most of the day just tidying up getting ready for his arrival. Orange hadn’t made an appearance all day, you were considering bringing him some food at one point but he probably needed sleep just as much as food. He’d come out when he was ready to eat and sleeping for one day wouldn’t kill him although you didn’t want to let it become a habit. It wouldn’t be healthy for your roommate. No doubt he’d take you dragging him out of bed as some sort of twisted torture though and you really didn’t think your relationship could take that. As soon as you heard the knock at the door you threw it open with such force that it hit the wall, bounced back and hit you in the arm as you greeted your friend.

“TO-OW!” You watched as the blue bunny monster chuckled at you

“You need to be careful buddy” He scolded as you grabbed one of the bags he was carrying and practically skipped to the kitchen with it

“What? nah i’m fine! It barely broke my arm” you joked. Tops made his way over to the kitchen with the other bags

“I believe a door could break your arm” he said thoughtfully as he took a seat at the island bench.

“Hey I’m not that weak!” You tried to defend as you began to put things away. 

“So you haven’t collapsed this week?” you paused just a bit to long answering Tops own question without having to say anything as he began to laugh

“Shut up, it only happened twice!”

“Twice!? What are you going for a new record or something little buddy?” Your friend asked laughing harder

“Shut up!” you joked, throwing a packet of corn chips, that had been infused with magic at him. It hit Tops in the chest lightly before he opened the packet and began to eat them. You didn’t mind, you got them for him anyway. He’d told you that his owner often forgot to feed him so you always ordered food for him to eat as well. He didn’t seem to mind the lack of food, more happy to have a job.

Monsters were allowed to work for a third party if given permission by their owners. Of course most people who wanted free labor would just own their own monsters but the larger companies would hire or borrow monsters from others. It was an easy way for owners to basically get rent from their slaves as their ‘pay’ would automatically go to their owners. Pay was such a strong term for it though as it wasn’t much at all. Most monster who had been rented out for work died due to over labor. It sucked. As you know the story though, Tops owner worked all day themselves and their kids went to school. Instead of leaving a monster home alone all day they got him a job with this large supermarket.

 

Tops had been there for about half an hour before Orange emerged from his room freezing in the doorway and staring at the rabbit monster. You stopped mid sentence completely forgetting that he had been here all day. You still weren’t used to him being here, you still didn’t want him to be here. You shook off your surprise

“Oh yeah. Uh Tops? I’d like you to introduce my new roommate” Tops seemed just as taken aback by seeing Orange here as you did. 

“I’m going to guess your father's idea?”

“Him and the doctors, they’re trying to stop me from getting that record” You weakly chuckled still feeling awkward under Orange’s glare. 

“Such worry warts. We’re all going to dust anyway, we just know you’re going first” Tops said smiling widely at you

“Yeah, so don’t you dare try to take that away from me mister. My death shall be the crowning achievement of my life!”

“And the happiest day of his” Tops said nodded towards Orange “What’s with the tattered clothes lil buddy?” Orange was still wearing the same clothes that he had been in when you picked him up from the shelter.

“I got him new clothes yesterday to” you said pouting. Him not trusting you was really just hurting himself. He’d be comfortable in new clothes. Maybe he didn’t like what you picked out? It’s not like you wanted to pick it out, he didn’t really give you much to work with. Just everything to do with the monster made you feel sick with guilt.

“And you still choose to wear that?” Tops smirked at the tattered clothing. Orange still hadn’t moved from where he was standing

“Yeah, I just think Orange doesn’t trust me, not that you can blame him right?” Tops gave you a confused look

“Orange?” 

“Yeah, it’s a nickname! Because he’s magic’s orange” You told him clapping your hands together happily. You were proud of the nickname, and who doesn’t like having a nickname. There a strong indication of friendship afterall. 

“And he won’t tell you his name” Tops said giving you a knowing smirk to which you shrugged in reply. 

“she knows my name” Orange’s cold voice cut in. 

“No she read a file. She won’t use it unless you say she can, Orange.” Tops said, emphasising his nickname as Orange slowly made his way over to the two of you. 

“so you gave her your name, Tops?” Orange replied coldly

“Yep, on about the third week” Tops shrugged, not seeming bothered by the skeleton monster

“Because we’re best friends!” You cheered happily. “Of course I can always go back to your nickname if you want~” you teased. Tops’s attention snapped back to you 

“Don’t you dare” he deadpanned

“What was wrong with it?” you asked in an innocent voice

“It is literally the worst” he whined. 

“You’re being dramatic, but fine. I’ll keep calling you Tops. I like that better anyway” You said winking at the Rabbit. You glanced at Orange who was eyeing the empty packet of monster food littering the counter. “Oh Tops do you think we can add to our weekly order? We’re going to need monster food in the house for Orange. We went out yesterday to grab some for this week but Dad wants it on the order. Something about me not leaving the house” You asked going to the cupboard and pulling out some food for Orange. You placed it in front of him but he didn’t even move to grab any of it. 

“Pft, like that will stop you. Yeah we can add to it, but I’ll need to take two trips to bring everything up.” Tops told you, pulling out a small tablet that the company issued out to employees for updating clients details and orders.

“I could meet you down there each week, help you bring it up”  you offered.

“Or Orange could, it’s his food” Tops said looking over at the other monster.

“I don’t mind. It’ll be good exercise” and you didn’t mind. Honestly you’d probably go with Orange if he did go down to help Tops each week, just to get out of the apartment.  Tops shrugged 

“As long as I don’t find you passed out on the stairs”

“Ooo I haven’t done that yet, I’ll have to add it to my bingo board” Tops handed the tablet to Orange who just glanced at it, not moving to grab it at all. You had a feeling that he was still thinking you were tricking him somehow and that Tops was all apart of some elaborate scheme to hurt him somehow. You suddenly felt very weak, grabbing the bench for support. 

“Arg, sorry Tops, I think I need to go lie down. Orange, get what you want or need or whatever. I’ll uh. See you next week” You said smiling at the rabbit “sorry” you whispered. You always felt like shit for leaving him to lie down. You felt bad whenever you had to do it to anyone, but if you didn’t you’d end up blacked out again.

“That’s fine Lil buddy. Make sure you don’t die before I see you again” you laugh

“Oh please who do you think I am. I’m the greatest, no the most magnificent human ever. I won’t die so quickly. You’ll have to deal with me for another year at least” You let out a loud laugh attempting to lighten the mood before the dizziness forced you to stop. 

“I look forward to it lil buddy” Tops said smiling softly. You skipped around the counter, giving your friend a hug, which he returned with a gentle grip, before you heading off to bed. As soon as your door gently closed behind you, you felt worse. Everything looked like you were looking through a frosted window. You hated being sick. 

  
  


**Orange POV**

 

tops had placed the tablet on the bench in front of me but i didn’t touch it nor did i touch the food that the human put there. there was no way i was letting that human get one over on me. it was obvious she had tricked this monster somehow and now she was using him to lead me into a trap.

“You gonna pick out some food Papyrus?” tops asked nodding towards the device. i remember seeing him underground a few times. he worked for nappstaton in hotland at that food joint. sans insisted on going there a few times even when he didn’t enjoy greasy food. from what i remember the rabbit was always kind of cynical but real easy to read.  

“why?” i asked. i could feel myself glaring.

“Well, I mean I guess so you can eat next week. If you want to starve though then I guess that’s your choice” tops replied 

“guess i’ll starve” there was silence for a few moments before tops sighed, picked up the tablet and started to tap on the screen. 

“I’ll pick some food out for you man. If you don’t like it let me know next time and we can rearrange some things” i watched him tap away for a while in silence. he reached for the food the human had put out for me at one point and began to munch on it

“why are you doing this?” i just didn’t understand

“Because it’s my job?” tops replied chuckling slightly at my question

“no, i mean she didn’t order you to do this. why go this far to pretend to be her friend? you let her hug you and you’re eating this food as if she wasn’t human” tops stopped fiddling with the tablet as he began to think of an answer

“I guess it’s because she’s a genuinely nice human. Look man the world is filled with creeps and weirdos who want control over you and sometimes you're gonna get stepped on so it’s nice to have one genuine person you know you can believe in.” he was telling the truth. he actually trusted this human, thought they were nice. how naive could you be. 

“she’s going to turn on you” tops laughed at this, apparently finding this statement very amusing

“What?” he looked over at me like i was talking backwards or something. 

“she’s human, it’s what they do” 

“Their different man” he said it so casually it made me snarl

“why? because they pretend to be sick?” i practically spat

“What?” He sounded offended, the smile completely gone from his face “lil buddy isn’t pretending man. She's dying, has been for almost two years”

“that’s a long time for someone to be dying” 

“He cells are basically eating her from the inside, it isn’t going to happen over night” he snapped. we glared at each other for a few minutes before tops sighed and looked back to the tablet “look I get it, from the looks of you you’ve had a rough time these past few owners but you should trust her more man. She’s dying. What could she possibly gain from messing with you?”

“one last hurrah before biting the bullet” i muttered.

“Holy shit, were you always this paranoid?” i decided not to answer that one so tops continued “I think you should take the time to get to know her. Open up a bit, trust her more. Maybe start by taking her at face value. After all what’s the worst that could happen” 

“she could hit me, starve me, rape me, send me back to get reprogrammed, work me to dust, she could be like any other human out there. take your pick, buddy” tops let out a sigh before standing up

“Alright Orange, have fun with all that. I gotta get going but I’ll see you next week, you can tell me all the horrible things that weak human has put you through, like getting you new clothes, and buying you proper food and maybe, just guessing here but cleaning out your room so you could have your own private space. Man she really is the worst.” tops mocked shaking he’s had sadly before smiling back up at me “have fun with your terrible life, I got to go and have a tea party with a 12 and 8 year old” his face fell “that is real hell” and with that he turned and left. 

left me alone in the small apartment, my stomach growled, protested that i hadn’t eaten anything yet. i don’t think tops is right, humans are not good, why should this one be different. but i could also tell he wasn’t lying. i don’t know what to think at the moment, it was all very conflicted and it was so much easier just to hate them. the alternative, of having your trust crushed, was far worse. i don’t know where i stand but pushed all those thoughts aside. for now i guess i should find out what will happen if i eat some food. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to see my tumblr:  
> [Check it out here!!](https://battlemaiden13.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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